Automatic and semi-automatic weapons, such as handguns and rifles, utilize the exhaust gases that result from the discharge of a round to chamber the next round. These gases apply force, in a rearward direction, to the weapon's bolt, forcing the bolt to travel in a rearward direction against the restraint of a spring. As the bolt is propelled backwards, an ejector mechanism engages the casing of the spent cartridge and ejects it. When the force applied by the gases against the bolt becomes less than the force of the spring, the bolt is returned to a closed position. As the bolt travels forward, it chambers the next round, if there is a round present. As the bolt travels in this fashion in most automatic or semi-automatic weapons, the bolt "cocks" the weapon by placing the firing mechanism in an armed position, ready to be fired by pulling the trigger. Thus, after each round is fired, the weapon is placed in condition to be fired a second time. A semi-automatic weapon may be fired as rapidly as the operator can pull the trigger. In an automatic weapon, the firing mechanism is automatically released as long as the trigger is being held back.
It is not uncommon for a weapon to malfunction when a cartridge misfires, or not fire at all. The bolt is prevented from properly ejecting the spent cartridge and from loading the next cartridge. Law enforcement agencies and the military train their personnel in the correct way to react to such an occurrence and to manually clear the malfunctioned cartridge and place the weapon in a condition to be fired. Personnel are trained to take steps to clear the weapon of the unfired or misfired cartridge and chamber the next round.
In order to simulate a misfire, a dummy round will be loaded in a clip, intermixed with live rounds, and the clip is loaded into a weapon to be fired. The dummy round will not fire when chambered and the shooter will have to react and clear the weapon of the dummy round.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,405,308 to Jack, a dry firing cartridge has a separate bullet head and casing. This cartridge is provided with an internal piston, plate and integral spring that absorb the impact of the weapon's firing pin in order to prevent damaging the pin when the weapon is dry fired.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,350 to Seminiano, a dry fire cartridge is disclosed that is constructed of a separate bullet head and casing. Seminiano discloses a soft, resilient material, which is injected into the primer cup, for absorbing the shock of the firing pin. Seminiano's dry fire cartridge is constructed of a standard spent casing that has been refitted with a standard bullet.
The Plummer U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,832 is for a dummy round for use in firearm training. The dummy round is loaded into a conventional semiautomatic or fully automatic weapon and is configured the same as a standard round of live ammunition. The casing portion and the bullet portion of the dummy round are constructed of a single integral unit.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,769 to Moser, a dummy cartridge has a cartridge case containing a dummy projectile inserting into the cartridge case so as to bear against the case floor of the cartridge case. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,524 to Strandli et al., a practice projectile free of any explosives is adapted for shooting from aircraft against ground targets for target practice and includes a hollow shell having a projectile mounted therein. The base of the shell is a separate portion which engages the nose portion. The Moser U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,909 is a short range projectile which has a metal jacket which surrounds a plastic material core and is used for practice ammunition for firing over a predetermined short distance. The Hartley et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,902 is a 76MM rammable practice cartridge while the Carlson U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,832 is a round for testing shotgun condition. The Boyce U.S. Pat. No. 1,585,075 is a toy cartridge while the Hobbs U.S. Pat. No. 119,357 is an improvement in cartridge shells for drill purposes and which includes a block of rubber to replace the firing cap on the cartridge casing. The Hannas et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,840 relates to dummy ammunition cartridges which is susceptible to repeated use and for performing all the functions of a live cartridge.
In contrast, the present invention is for a method of making a dummy ammunition round for a firearm which is inexpensive and reliable and which can be utilized by law enforcement agencies to train personnel in the correct way to clear the weapon of an unfired or misfired cartridge and to rapidly chamber the next round.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a dummy round which can be used as a training round and can be readily chambered and ejected from a conventional semiautomatic or fully automatic weapon.